Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Rayda) news: On November 5, 2023, at around noon, "See Xinjiang's Development in its Ports" media report team came to Xinjiang Xiyu Light Industry Base (hereinafter referred to as "Xiyu Light Industry") located in Tianshan District of Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. At this time, there were more than 500 parking spaces available at Xiyu Light Industry, and the No.1 and No.2 pavilions of Xiyu Light Industry International Trade City, and Import Food Trade City were crowded with people; there were porcelain, handicrafts, clothing, general merchandise, honey, chocolate, candy, coffee, and red wine... All kinds of goods and imported food dazzled people's eyes; container transportation vehicles in the logistics park came and went, what a bustling scene.

Photo taken on November 5, 2023 shows customers shop for imported goods in the Import Commodities Trade City of Xinjiang Xiyu Light Industry Base in Tianshan District of Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Rayda)

Xiyu Light Industry, where one of the largest domestic and foreign trade professional markets in Urumqi is located, is a must-visit destination for people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, as well as a platform for foreign tourists to choose Chinese products.

As you enter the newly built Silu Yuncang Import and Export Commodity Integrated Service Building of Xiyu Light Industry, you can see that shops are busy renovating. Some stores have their goods in place, waiting for the shop assistants to organize them.

Photo taken on November 5, 2023 shows customers shop for furs in the Import Commodities Trade City of Xinjiang Xiyu Light Industry Base in Tianshan District of Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Rayda)

"Nowadays, Xiyu Light Industry has become well-known, and more and more domestic and foreign merchants are coming. The existing stores can no longer meet the needs of customers, so we rented a shop of nearly 300 square meters in the Silu Yuncang Import and Export Commodity Integrated Service Building, which is currently under renovation." Yusupujan Adil, general manager of Xinjiang Saiyahe Trading Co., Ltd., said that in 2017, the company opened its first store in Xiyu Light Industry Import Commodity City, mainly selling food and commodities imported from Central Asian and European countries. At present, the company has opened eight stores across Xinjiang.

"Since the initiative of jointly building the Belt and Road was put forward ten years ago, the trade between Xinjiang and the countries that jointly pursue the Belt and Road Initiative has become closer and closer. Urumqi, as the central city in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, has continuously expanded its export-oriented economy, which has brought infinite opportunities for the development of enterprises. In order to meet the shopping needs of domestic and foreign tourists, this year we carried out the second phase construction of Silu Yuncang, which will be put into operation in early December with more than 300 merchants settling in.” Zhang Wen, executive deputy general manager of Xinjiang Xiyu Light Industry Base (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xiyu Group"), said that this is the third upgrade in the development of enterprises.

Founded in 2004, after 19 years of unremitting efforts, Xiyu Group has the goal of becoming a BRI comprehensive service provider, and providing chain-like domestic and foreign trade services of "accommodation, tourism, shopping, entertainment, warehousing and transportation". It has now developed into a supply chain ecological system with two major sectors of trade and logistics, and a new development pattern of domestic and international "dual circulation" with the domestic cycle as the main body and mutual promotion between the domestic and international cycles.

"This development pattern did not come about overnight," said Zhang Wen.

At the beginning of its establishment, relying on the location advantage of Urumqi's opening to the west, Xiyu Group developed international trade logistics and warehousing, integrated four major resources of "logistics service, logistics carrier, logistics demand, logistics operation", and provided efficient and convenient services to customers.

As of the end of September this year, Xiyu Light Industry has exported 6,100 vehicles of goods, with a cargo throughput of about 190,000 tons and a trade volume of about one billion US dollars.

"The Xiyu Light Industry International Hotel in Urumqi is a foreign-related four-star hotel under the Xiyu Group. With the continuous development of Xinjiang's foreign trade, more and more foreign businessmen have been staying in the hotel, and our business has also ushered in its first upgrade," said Zhang Wen.

In 2007, the Xiyu Group built the No.1 pavilion of the Xiyu International Trade City in Xiyu Light Industry, mainly selling fur, auto parts, electronic products, daily commodities, etc. "Foreign businessmen have always favored China's light industrial products, and those staying in hotels also hope to buy satisfactory goods as soon as they go out. This business expansion has added a lot of impetus to the development of the Xiyu Group, and laid a foundation for future upgrades," said Zhang Wen.

In this way, in the 16 years of development, the Xiyu Group has gained a foothold in the field of international logistics and foreign trade.

In 2021, China proposed the new development paradigm of "dual circulation", which allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay. In early 2022, the No.2 pavilion of Xiyu International Trade City opened. "Due to the special circumstances at that time, we renovated the original hotel rooms in phase one and turned them all into domestic trade shops, mainly providing a platform for domestic businessmen to sell and purchase small commodities," said Zhang Wen. Since then, the reputation of Xiyu Light Industry has been continuously improving in Xinjiang.

Photo taken on November 5, 2023 shows workers load goods at the Xinjiang Xiyu Light Industry Base in Tianshan District of Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Rayda)

At present, there are a total of 1,334 including 115 enterprises and 1,219 individual businesses settled in the Xiyu Light Industry. As of now this year, eight enterprises and 129 individual businesses settled in the Xiyu Light Industry, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Seizing the opportunity, Xiyu Group has built a large-scale cross-border comprehensive service base of 600,000 square meters in Xiyu Light Industry, namely the "Five Pavilions and Two Centers", which is a domestic and international trade service center integrating cross-border trade services, entrepreneurship and innovation, and e-commerce. The project includes five product exhibition and exchange pavilions for China, Türkiye, Russia, Europe, and Central Asia-Southeast Asia, and two centers including the Silk Road Cuisine Center and the Silk Road Cultural and Art Exchange Center. After completion, the project will have an annual output value of about 650 million yuan (about 90.5 million U.S. dollars).

"Xinjiang's pace of opening up to the outside world is getting faster and faster, and enterprises of our kind are taking advantage of this trend. Recently, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was officially established. The establishment of the FTZ is a major historical opportunity for Urumqi to better integrate into the country's strategy of opening up to the west. It will bring new development opportunities for enterprises. We will strive to build Xiyu Light Industry into a large-scale international trade and logistics base facing West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and other regions, with a focus on the trading of light industrial goods." Zhang Wen said.

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